The Intertherm 50 coating from AkzoNobel ensures heat shielding for the new Formula 1 car of McLaren Racing.
AkoNobel
has recently announced that it has extended its long-running partnership with McLaren Racing, remaining its official supplier of coatings solutions
also for the new Formula One season. The company has been supporting the team since 2007.
Critical components surrounding the engine and exhaust of the cars have to usually withstand heat that can reach 1,000° C. So, several parts of the MCL60 McLaren Racing car feature the 25 microns thick Intertherm 50 high temperature coating, which helps to provide heat shielding. Identified by its tell-tale silver colouring, it forms part of a sophisticated thermal management system.
“It’s an aluminium pigmented thin-film silicone coating. In the Marine and Protective Coatings business, we typically use Intertherm 50 on high temperature process pipes and equipment found in the oil and gas markets. McLaren has found that the aluminium in Intertherm 50 reflects a large amount of the infrared heat rays that hit it. This reflective property is why you see marathon runners wrapped in foil. The heat they give out is captured inside the blanket, which allows them to regulate their temperature as their body heat drops,” has explained Ian Fletcher, the senior product manager for aesthetic and temperature resistant coatings of the Marine and Protective Coatings business of AkzoNobel.
“We heavily rely on Intertherm 50 as our general heat-resistant, reflective coating. We also apply it to the internal surfaces of the heatshield – so the unmolded face gets a layer of Intertherm 50 as another protective barrier from the heat,” has commented Steve Foster, the principal composites engineer of McLaren.